The People

We seem to love to categorize people these days. Rich/poor, black/white, liberal/conservative, gay/straight. And ironically, no one seems to like to be labeled. Yes, folks do act in interesting ways.

As I browsed Facebook over the last few days, I noticed a lot of arguing back and forth about the two big SCOTUS rulings this week. Nearly all the chatter was about the rulings themselves, and very little if any about the validity of the SCOTUS process. I saw one post by a politician that quoted an old saying regarding Democracy.

This made me think of sayings in general. You know what they say! "Opinions are like assholes - everyone's got one." Ok, but who are the THEY? How do THEY know so much? We have three types of people: The sayers, the talkers, and the doers. The sayers are an interesting group. They say lots of things, but we often don't even know who they are. There are certain rules that sayers must follow. For example, you can't say something unless another sayer says the opposite. The sayings always must be in balance.

For example, "Never look back" -vs- "If you ignore history, you are bound to repeat it".

Another rule is that your saying must be catchy, or clever. Perhaps merely alliterative is sufficient. It doesn't even need to make sense. For example, "A stitch in time saves nine". Huh?

Ok, then there are the talkers. You KNOW who these folks are, and often wish you didn't. Sometimes they actually say something, but mostly they just talk to talk. Some excel at it, and they become politicians or salespersons (is there a difference?)

And finally, the doers. These folks actually get things done, while the talkers stand around and talk about getting things done. Occasionally, you might run into a talker who is also a doer. They call this person a leader. This sounds like a great person, but many of these leaders don't synchronize the talk with the do. They say one thing and do another. This we call a hypocrite.

To be fair, some folks talk one way, and later come to realize they were wrong. They adjust their doing accordingly. But even in this case, we need to distinguish between those who change without provocation (i.e., on their own volition because this is what they believe - integrity) and those who change to gain a following (political expediency).

I know what you're thinking - there are more types than just these three. Watchers perhaps - folks who keep an eye on things but never speak up? Or how about Crybabies, folks who never talk or do, but just complain? I'm sure you can think of more, right? I'm sure there is a saying about all this.